Determination's Futility
by Gigabomb
Summary: Sakon x Naruto. Strength often comes from the most unexpected places.


Author's Note: Done on request from touei.

For someone who was supposed to be the vessel of the Nine-Tails Fox, the kid sure was small. For some reason, this was the thought the cycled through Sakon's head at various moments during his stint at guard duty, watching the brat struggle against the chains that bound his hands behind his back. Sakon wasn't exactly sure why the boy being small mattered. It didn't, really. Stature was hardly a good indication of a shinobi's worth. Orochimaru-sama, for instance, wasn't very impressive height-wise, and considering the biggest of the Sound Five was also the weakest… well, to say the least, Sakon had sufficient experience to know better than the judge by appearances. But still… the Kyuubi brat looked so damned _young_ it was hard not to pity him a little when after several hours of pulling at his bonds (while the kid didn't seem to rate very high on common sense, Sakon did have to give him bonus points for persistence), he curled up in a little ball in the furthest corner of his cell and started to sniffle in the pathetic sort of way boys did when they felt they had to hide any detractor from their masculinity. After several minutes, the kid even gave up on that and just rolled to face the other direction so Sakon couldn't see the tears dripping down the younger boy's face.

To his credit, the brat never did revert to outright bawling, but in many ways, this quiet sort of misery was even worse. During the first hour of Sakon's shift at playing guard, the Leaf kid hadn't once paused in his constant verbal assault of Sakon's intelligence, looks, sexual preferences, and overall lack of moral standards. The kid himself wasn't smart enough to avoid repeating insults (often more than once; _bastard_ seemed like an especial favorite), but again, bonus points for staying power and the steady throb that soon developed between Sakon's temples. Ukon had slunk off to go to bed after the first ten minutes, another tribute to the irritation the Konoha brat could generate in even the most lackadaisical of targets, but Sakon, sadly, hadn't had the option of getting up and leaving. So he simply ignored the boy, the Sound's star prisoner of the moment, who couldn't really do anything anyway, what with the seals that covered most of his body and the chakra that practically leaked out of the chains encircling the his wrists and ankles. The kid was persistent, Sakon could give him that, but Tayuya was infinitely more creative and her voice more grating, so Sakon had plenty of practice tuning out the constant hum of complaints and mockery. Even when the insults had ceased, the boy's struggles and the constant cursing under his breath was sign enough of his determination to get the hell away. Then even that had stopped. Watching the boy shake in the darkness of the cell out of the corner of his eye as he glanced away from the book he was reading (some historical fiction piece of crap Kidoumaru had lent him on the recommendation that it helped the monotony of guard duty pass by more rapidly), Sakon made a mental note that in the end, four days of imprisonment had turned out to be the Kyuubi brat's limit. Shit. Jiroubou had ended up winning the betting pool after all.

Though the younger boy had apparently given up on escape for the moment, all too soon the mutterings started up again. Even with his excellent sense of hearing, Sakon was hard put to make out what the kid was saying, though he soon caught enough of it to know that unlike before, the brat's words were now self-directed.

"Giving up… you're giving up… so stupid… Uzumaki Naruto should never… give up. You're not finished yet… you made a promise… damn it… get up… get _up_." But the boy never did get up, lack of food and exhaustion having finally paid its toll on his small frame. Even if his spirit hadn't completely been broken, without the support of the Kyuubi's infinite supply of chakra, the boy's body simply couldn't keep up. It was, Sakon thought idly as he turned the page, almost poetic.

Then the boy shifted again, back around to face towards Sakon, his face set in a determined glare. "I'm going to get out."

"Good for you," Sakon murmured in a distracted sort of fashion, his eyes skimming over the last paragraph of the novel's third to last chapter. He wasn't, of course, truly being inattentive, but it was amusing the way the kid's eyes narrowed in childish annoyance when he realized that his captor of the moment wasn't paying much attention to him.

"I am!"

Sakon rolled his eyes. "Then you might want to concentrate on that instead of talking to me."

The kid's glare turned sullen. Even with his face covered with grimy dust and his hair dirty, the look was almost endearing. Sakon hadn't had much exposure to innocence, and what this boy had wasn't that (he was a shinobi after all, even if he wasn't a very good one), but it was a damned sight closer than anything Sakon had seen in a long while. "I can't right now. I'm too hungry." His stomach growled as if to illustrate the point.

Sakon was beginning to recognize the fact that he wasn't going to get anymore reading done that night. He slammed his book closed with an irritated sigh and turned his focus fully on the younger boy. "And I expect you want me to do something about that, brat?"

At the insult, the boy's eyes narrowed further, but he at least had the sense of mind to know that deriding someone he was about to ask a favor of wasn't the wisest idea, so instead his throat shifted in an attempt to swallow his pride and said, "Could you get me a sandwich or something? I haven't eaten in, like-"

"Four days, I know." To his surprise, Sakon actually found himself considering the kid's request. While Orochimaru-sama had ordered that the Five keep watch to make sure the Kyuubi boy didn't escape, he had also told them to make sure the Leaf brat didn't die, and even brats possessed by a demon needed to eat. It was with this thought in mind that Sakon walked over to the dungeon's pantry (why they had a pantry, Sakon didn't know, but at least Jiroubou kept it well stocked) and yanked open the door to reveal… a sandwich. Several sandwiches, actually. Sakon stared at the contents of the cabinet for several moments before coming to the conclusion that, yes, sandwiches were the only food in there. Perturbed for some reason Sakon wasn't exactly sure of (what, was the brat psychic as well as annoying?), he pulled out one of the sandwiches at random (cheese and turkey with mayonnaise, as it turned out), closed the pantry door, and walked over to the cell. It was then that Sakon realized his dilemma.

He couldn't unchain the kid. Which meant he had to feed him. Shit. Rubbing the bridge of his nose with an irritated sigh, Sakon touched the seal holding the cell door closed before pulling on the handle and walking through, shutting the door behind him. There was really only one way to do this, even if it was stupid. Restraining the urge to blow out another blast of air through his nose, Sakon walked over to where the Kyuubi boy lay and knelt beside him, grabbing the back of the kid's jacket and propping him against the stone wall. It was in this position that Sakon fed him, the boy not even trying to bother with manners (and why should he; no one but Sakon was here to see), at several points almost biting off the ends of Sakon's fingers in his haste to eat as quickly as possible. In a very short amount of time the enormous sandwich was gone, having disappeared completely with not even any crumbs to make note of its passing, and now the younger boy was yawning. Worse, he was leaning against Sakon and yawning, looking far too ready to fall asleep. Sakon flinched at the unexpected contact; besides in combat, no one but Ukon had touched him in _years_, and it felt… strange.

"Brat, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

One sleepy eye cracked open, than closed again. The boy's next words came in a half-swallowed murmur. "Name's Naruto, not brat. An' you're softer than the floor. An' I'm sleepy. An' if I'm gonna escape tomorrow, I've got to be rested up." It was then that the boy (Naruto, Sakon, supposed he should say, the kid had introduced himself after all and it wasn't like it was an ugly name) fell asleep, his body completely relaxed and slumped against Sakon's own, his head soon slipping down from Sakon's shoulder to fall into the Sound-nin's lap. If it hadn't been for the drool and the quiet snoring, Sakon would have expected a trap, the whole thing was so ridiculously cute.

Sakon knew he should have moved, dropped the boy on the floor and gotten up to resume his proper position as guard. That is, outside the cell. This was ridiculous in every sense of the word. But the kid was so _small_, so _light_, it was hard to believe Naruto could ever be a threat, no matter if there was a demon inside of him, no matter what Sakon had heard about the boy's training from the legendary sannin Jiraiya. And Tayuya wouldn't be by for hours to relieve him. And, well… even if Naruto's boasts about escaping were never going to be realized, he needed his sleep, probably more than anyone else alive. Who knew what tomorrow would bring, if Orochimaru-sama decided then that the demon was too dangerous to live?

Sakon absentmindedly ran a hand through the boy's filthy hair, tearing out some of the tangles. He didn't mind this, really. It was kind of nice, taking care of someone for once instead of being taken care of himself. And God knew this boy needed looking after. He was so very small, after all.


End file.
